Many investors pin the U.S. market's latest declines on a slowdown in growth in China, but one global economist says that's a mistake.

If China really was to blame, those economic ripples would have hit the eurozone and the Japanese economy much harder, said Torsten Slok, chief international economist at Deutsche Bank. He notes that both those countries have a stronger trade link with China than the U.S. does.

"We have seen that the manufacturing sectors, both in Europe and in Japan do much better than the manufacturing sector in the U.S.," he said, speaking to CNBC's "Closing Bell" on Friday. "It really is the dollar that's the main reason why the U.S. economy is slowing."

The economist says that while the dollar has been higher in the last few years, the euro has been moving sideways since last March. This change poses the dollar higher against emerging markets only. In turn, the U.S. manufacturing sector won't lose as much competitiveness as it otherwise would, he said on Friday.

"It does look like, therefore, we've had the most significant appreciation of the dollar in the months behind us," he noted.